THE THINGS I DO
by Aryea
Summary: REPOST- By request. Sydney is injured and acting strangely. Can Nigel handle the change or will her behavior come between their friendship?
1. Chapter 1

**REPOST – By request.**

The characters of Relic Hunter belong to Fireworks Entertainment. I am only borrowing them for a bit of fun and am making no monetary gain at their expense. The plot and concept of the story is mine, so please do not reproduce without my permission.

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Written by Aryea

**THE THINGS I DO**

"Syd!" Nigel cried and he watched in horror as the hidden arrow shot from the wall and imbedded itself into Sydney's lower thigh, causing the relic hunter to fall sideways against the wall. A sparkling mist of unknown substance filled the cavern around her.

"Nigel!" she cried and warned him back with her hand, unsure yet if whatever just released could harm him. "Stay there!"

Nigel was torn between obedience, fear of the unknown, and his concern for her. "But you're hurt!"

"Stay there!" Sydney ordered, firmly and gritted her teeth against the pain in her thigh. She couldn't believe that she had missed that last trap.

They both waited in tense silence, Nigel just outside the entrance to the cavern, Sydney on the floor inside, still leaning against the wall.

Finally, the mist settled and she seemed no more the worse for wear, other than a slight rise in her temperature, which was probably due to adrenalin, and the pain in her leg. But that didn't mean whatever was in that mist wasn't toxic. Sometimes it took a few minutes for...

"Syd?" Nigel demanded, breaking into her thoughts.

Sydney started to answer, warn him away, but found it difficult to breathe.

"Bugger it!" Nigel rushed forward into the smaller cavern.

"No!" she moaned, fear for him recovered her voice. "I said..."

"I don't give a hang what you said!" he hissed as he slid to his knees beside her, worry marring his usually boyish features. "Oh, Syd." The arrow was still sticking out of her thigh but she wasn't bleeding very much yet.

She was so light headed and she didn't think it was the pain, she'd felt much worse. Was the arrow poisoned? "Pull…pull it out."

"Syd, I don't think…"

"You have to!" She gasped and caught her breath, trapping those beautiful hazel eyes in her gaze. "May…may be poisoned!"

He paled. "Oh God, don't say that!"

"Please, Nigel. You have to pull it out."

He nodded grimly, and pressed one hand against her thigh. "I'm so sorry, Syd. This will probably hurt quite a bit."

She nodded. "Hurts now, just do it."

Nigel gripped the arrow and yanked it free of her flesh, wincing at her cry of pain. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry." He whipped a handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it to the bleeding wound.

Sydney weakly pulled the leather strap from around her neck and handed it to him, her hand taking the place of his in applying pressure to her injury. "Tie it off."

He accepted the strap with trembling hands and used it to create a tourniquet to stem the blood flow.

"Need to…stop the bleeding…"

"I know, I know!" He pulled off his khaki button-down and started to tear it into strips to make a bandage for her leg. "I'm working on it."

"I know," Sydney sighed. Suddenly she didn't mind the pain so much, and she wasn't sure if that was because of her light-headedness, or because Nigel smelled so damned yummy. "You… you always take good care of me, Nige." She leaned closer to him, let her head drop to his shoulder. He felt as good as he smelled, what was that cologne he was wearing? Why hadn't she noticed it before?

"Syd?" Nigel asked, concerned, his hands automatically moving to cradle her. "Do you feel faint? Are you going to be ill?"

She shook her head, but didn't move from her position. "Sleepy, Nigel."

"No, don't go to sleep, Syd! Stay awake for me, okay?"

"Okay." She was quite content to just lay here next to him, with his arms around her. Well, maybe one more thing would make it perfect. She raised her head just enough to press her lips to his.

Nigel froze and his eyes widened as Sydney's mouth moved against his. What the hell?

He pulled back. "Syd?"

Sydney started to pout. "Come back," she requested, seductively. "Kiss me, Nigel."

He stared at her as if she had gone mad. "Sydney!" This was hardly the time to be romantic, not that Sydney ever got romantic with him. Was the pain making her delusional? "Come on, we have to get you out of here."

She resisted when he tried to help her up. "Don't want to." She pulled him close again and pursed her lips. "Kisses, Nigey."

He flushed. Nigey? "Now is not the time, Syd…"

Sydney sat back against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest, stubbornly. "Then I'm staying here."

"Sydney, you're hurt and bleeding and…you may be poisoned. I have to get you to a doctor."

She shook her head and again resisted his attempts to move her.

Nigel growled in frustration. What the hell had been in that arrow, or what was that stuff that came out of the wall? He supposed he could try and carry her, but if she struggled she might hurt herself more.

Sydney smiled at him and leaned forward. "You give me a kiss and I'll get up."

It wasn't so bad a bargain really, He certainly had heard worse, but as often as he sometimes thought of kissing his beautiful employer, actually doing it now seemed wrong. "Syd, please, we have to get out of here."

Sydney pursed her lips and waited, like a child waiting for a reward.

Nigel shook his head, and nervously leaned forward to give her a chaste, brotherly kiss. "There, um…now can we…" His words were cut off as Sydney grabbed him by the front of undershirt and pulled him forward, claiming his mouth in kiss that was definitely not be between siblings.

Sydney moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck as she delved deeper into his mouth. Distantly she recalled Karen mentioning how good a kisser Nigel was, and she had not lied.

Nigel could do little, but try and keep up with Sydney's amorous assault, and attempt to ignore all the other sensations that she was causing inside him.

Finally, lack of oxygen caused them to pull apart and Sydney stared at him, satisfied and licking her lips as if she'd just had the tastiest of treats. "Mmmmm, that was nice."

Nigel cleared his throat. It was more than nice, it was bloody fantastic, but he couldn't think about that now. He had to get her to a doctor. "Um…yes, so…now we can go, right?"

Sydney nodded and allowed him to help her to her feet. She was suddenly reminded of her injury when she tried to walk. "Oh!"

Nigel's arm went around her as he pulled her arm around his neck. "Are you okay? Do you want me to carry you?"

Sydney's pride wouldn't allow that, although the idea of being in his arms was very appealing at the moment. "I…I can manage."

Nigel nodded and together they managed to stumble out of the caverns.

"The relic!" Sydney suddenly remembered why they were in there.

"We'll come back for it, Syd," Nigel insisted as they stepped into the sunshine. "Let's get you fixed up first."

Sydney nodded and laid her head against his shoulder again. "Okay, honeybun."

Now he knew that something was wrong, Sydney never wanted to leave a relic behind. What had happened to his friend?

They hobbled to the jeep and he settled her into the passenger seat. "Where are the keys, Syd?"

Sydney again gave him that flirtatious smile. "In my pocket."

"Well, give them to me, so I can drive."

Sydney shook her head and tilted in the seat, so her rear pants pocket was visible to him. "Here they are."

Nigel stared at the tight fabric stretched across her firm backside and swallowed, hard. He started to comply, and then snatched his hand back as his face turned crimson. He just couldn't! "Syd, please, give me the keys?"

She frowned and reached into her pocket for the keys. However, she held them away from him once they were in her hand, and pursed her lips again, expectantly.

"I'm not giving you another kiss!" Nigel refused, appalled. He never thought such words would pass his lips; at least not while speaking to Sydney. "What do you think I am; you're personal gigolo?"

Sydney dropped the keys down the front of her top and grinned. "Then get them yourself."

"I can't believe you just did that!"

Sydney grinned and ran her hands down over her breasts, tugging her shirt a little closer as she leaned forward. "Go fetch, Nigel."

Nigel glared at her, it would bloody well serve her right if he did just dive in there and grab the damn things! He flushed at his own thoughts; he meant the keys, of course!

"Syd! Come on…"

"Kisses or bobbing for keys?" she offered, saucily, just before she started to sway in her seat.

Nigel glanced down at her injury, she was losing too much blood and the bandages were already soaked through. He couldn't delay getting her to a doctor any longer. He gently grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her, quickly, but thoroughly.

"There!" he decided, breathless. "Now may I have the keys?"

Sydney reached into her top to pull the keys out of her cleavage, delighted. "Sure thing, Nigey." She started to giggle. "Ooops!"

"What?"

She glanced down into her top. "They're gone."

Nigel swallowed again. "W…what do you mean, gone?" Where the hell could they go?

Sydney pulled down the neck of her shirt, exposing most of her lacy bra and proving that there was nothing metal between her breasts. "See? All gone."

Nigel's arm automatically rose to hide his gaze. "Sydney!" He forced his eyes back into his skull, caught her hands and quickly made her release the top so that it would cover her again. "I believed you, I didn't need…" He growled and rolled his eyes; they didn't have time for this. "They must have fallen down your shirt, check again."

Sydney's way of checking was to haul the blouse off all together. She started to giggle when her lack of coordination resulted in getting the shirt caught around her head.

"Oh, for the love of God!" Nigel exclaimed, impatiently, and pulled her free, relieved when the keys were released from the folds of the blouse. He tossed the shirt back at her as he bent to retrieve the keys. "Now put it back on."

Sydney stared at him, befuddled. "Why?"

"Because…because I don't need you catching a cold atop your injury!"

Sydney shrugged into the shirt as Nigel vaulted over the front of the jeep to slide into the driver's seat. He started the engine and sped away from the caverns, trying to remember how to get back to the main road. He was grateful that for once they had no one chasing them.

"I'm tired, Nigel."

"Don't go to sleep, Syd."

Sydney was already starting to slump in her seat. "Okay."

"Sydney!"

Sydney opened her eyes, but it was so hard to focus on him. "Can I have another kiss?" she asked, weakly.

"Yes, but only if you stay awake until I get you to a doctor."

Sydney smiled and forced her eyes to stay open. Nigel was so nice, his voice was so soothing, his lips so soft. He made her feel so good inside. He took such good care of her. "Hmmm." She reached over and started to caress his thigh, startling him.

"Sydney!"

"Let's pull over, Nigel?" she suggested, leaning against him and squeezed his thigh. "You can make love to me."

Nigel had to force himself to concentrate on the road, even as his cheeks flamed in embarrassment. He firmly caught her hand and placed it back on her side of the vehicle. "Not... not now. We have to get you to a doctor, remember?" This was so bizarre, having to fend off Sydney's advances; there had to be something really wrong with her.

"Then can we make love, Nigel?"

Nigel didn't have an answer for her. He was sure that whatever was affecting her would hopefully have run its course by then and she'd be back to normal; in which case she would not be thinking such things; at least not about him.

Sydney was treated at the small clinic, where they assured Nigel that there were no signs of poison in her bloodstream. They stitched and wrapped her leg, gave her a prescription for antibiotics and painkillers, and produced her fit to leave.

Nigel tried to argue with them that she obviously was not okay, since she couldn't keep her hands off him. The staff just smiled beguilingly and ushered them out. He drove to their hotel and got Sydney inside; maybe she just needed to sleep it off. Once she was asleep, he'd head back to the caverns and try and figure out what that stuff was that came out of the walls and how to cure Sydney of its effects.

Sydney smiled as Nigel gently settled her on the bed of their room, they were sharing because the small motel only had one room left, and then started digging through her pack for a fresh pair of slacks. They'd had to slice the one pant leg off of the ones she wore at the clinic.

"Here now, put these on," he requested as he draped her usual brown stretch jeans across the bed. "Guess you'll have to throw those others away."

Sydney had already pulled the ruined pants off and now sat in just her shirt and black lace underwear. She caught his hand and pulled him down to sit beside her. "Thanks, Nigel."

"For what?"

"For getting me patched up."

"I just drove you to the clinic, we were lucky there was one." He shuddered and rose again. "I hate to think if we'd been further from civilization as we is often the case on a hunt."

Sydney smiled at him, dreamily.

"Put…put your trousers on, Syd."

"I don't want to."

Nigel scratched his neck and turned away, trying to give her some privacy. "Then get under the covers."

Sydney reached for his arm and pulled him back to sit beside her again. "Nigel?"

"What, Syd?"

"I want my kiss."

Nigel blinked, he'd hoped that she was getting back to normal as she'd hardly said anything on the ride back to the motel. His voice raised a notch. "Sorry?"

"You said if I stayed awake until you got me to the doctor I'd get a kiss."

"I…well…" Yes, he had said that. "Sydney, you're not yourself. You really shouldn't be asking me for…"

"I want my kiss!"

"Why?" Nigel cried, equally upset. "What's come over you?"

Sydney pouted. "You don't want to kiss me?" She lay back and curled on her side on the bed, her back to him. "You think I'm ugly."

Was she insane? "I…that isn't…I would never think that! You're the most beautiful woman I have ever known!"

"Then why won't you kiss me?" she muttered forlornly.

Nigel was at a loss. He tentatively touched her shoulder, wishing she'd turn back to face him. "I…Syd, it…it isn't that I don't want to I…Something's happened to you. I think…I think that stuff that came out of the wall has made you…um…more amorous than you would normally be. Normally, you don't want to kiss me and I…I don't want to take advantage of you."

Sydney suddenly sat up, turned, and threw her arms around him. "I don't know why I'm feeling this way, Nige, but I am and it feels…nice." She pulled back and stared at him, shyly. "Why can't we just go with the flow?"

"Because when you come back to yourself, you'll start breaking my body parts, Syd!"

"I won't!" She leaned closer. "I promise." She lightly pressed her lips to his, once, twice, three times in soft, feather kisses. "You want to, I know you do."

"Syd," Nigel groaned, she was making it harder and harder for him to resist. "You're my friend, and…and my boss, I can't…"

"You can," she assured, huskily, trailing her tongue across his jaw. "It's just my body and your body…" She nibbled on his ear lobe. "Our bodies, together doing what nature intended."

"Syd!" Nigel groaned in protest, even as his body responded of its own volition, especially when Sydney pushed him back on the bed and pressed her body atop his. He blushed furiously when their hips met, as only the thin cloth of his trousers and a patch of lace now separated their most intimate parts.

"Go with the flow, Nigel," she encouraged as she claimed his mouth.

Nigel wanted to go with the flow, boy did he want to, but this wasn't the Sydney he knew and he was more afraid of the repercussions when Sydney came to her senses, than he was of hurting her feelings now. He pushed her away and scrambled off the bed, falling to the floor in his haste.

Sydney giggled and went after him, falling atop him so they were pinned between the bed and the wall. "Nigel!"

"Sydney, stop!"

"Why?"

"I…I just…no means no, damn it!" He caught her hands and held them away from him, as he stared up at her, breathless from their struggles.

"Don't you love me?" Sydney asked, her eyes flooding with tears and her lower lip quivering.

"Don't…don't ask me that. You don't know what you're saying, Syd!"

"You don't, do you?" she cried and a single tear slipped out. "You don't love me!"

He couldn't bear it, he'd never seen Sydney cry before, he'd never seen her so vulnerable and even though he knew it was just the effects of whatever that mist was in the cave, he couldn't hurt her. "I do," he assured softly, releasing her hands and folding his arms around her, automatically wanting to comfort her. "Of course. You know I do."

"You love me?" Sydney asked, raising her head from his shoulder to meet his gaze. "Really? Really and truly, Nigey?"

Nigel couldn't make up his mind if he found her juvenile reactions adorable or just really annoying. He only knew that he didn't want to make her cry anymore. He swallowed. "Yes, really…really and truly, Syd."

Sydney's eyes sparkled. "Say it."

"W…what?"

"Say you love me."

"Syd, please…"

"Say it! Say it!" She smacked at his chest, petulantly.

"I love you!" he cried and caught her hands again. "There, happy?"

Sydney grinned and captured his mouth with hers. Nigel let her kiss him, hoping that would be all she would want and that she'd let him up again. If he could just get away from her, he'd be okay, but he was pinned on either side by the wall and the bed, and then Sydney on top of him and she was heavier than she looked.

But Sydney had more than kissing on her mind this time and any childishness she showed earlier was replaced with romantic vigor. Nigel had changed into a fresh shirt and Sydney ripped the snaps open, exposing his naked chest to her roaming hands that were now working on the belt of his trousers; all the while keeping her lips fused with his.

Nigel tried to pull his clothes back on; tried to break the kiss, but she was like a succubus and wasn't giving up. He'd been intimidated by forceful women before, but he'd never, never been this scared, or this excited in his life. They couldn't do this, they just couldn't!

He felt her hands slip inside the waistband of his trousers and he almost passed out. They were going to do this, oh God! He managed to rip his mouth away from her moist, hungry lips. "God, Sydney, please…"

"Make love to me, Nigel?" Sydney panted in his ear. "I want you, please you…you want me too; I can feel it!"

Nigel bit his lip, of course she could feel it, he could hardly keep _that_ a secret from her, as close as they now were. "God, Syd…" He moaned as she started nibbling on his neck. "Huummmm…Syd...you…" He couldn't even think straight anymore; his neck was extremely sensitive and had always been one of his erogenous zones.

She started to suck on the flesh between her teeth and Nigel almost reared off the floor, even with her on top of him.

I'm not an animal, Nigel frantically scolded himself, I can stop, I have to stop…His thoughts were blown away as Sydney, encouraged by his reaction, started moving her hips against his and he whimpered; searching for control where he had none. If she kept this up, he wouldn't have to worry about violating her virtue, he wouldn't get that far.

"That's it, Nigel!" she cried, as her lips dipped towards his mouth and she felt his hips rock against hers, of their own accord. "I know you can…" Suddenly her eyes rolled to the back of her head and then closed as her full weight dropped upon him.

"Sydney!" Nigel cried, shaking her, his body still in a state of shock from the sudden cessation of activity. "Syd?" She was still breathing. He didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed. She started to snore lightly and he realized that she was just asleep. "Thank God!"

He carefully maneuvered them both back onto the bed, and then managed to pull the sheets up around her. Dropping onto the mattress he ran a shaky hand through the hair that had been thoroughly raked by Sydney's fingers. In the most inappropriate kind of pain, he wiped at his forehead and refastened his slacks with trembling hands.

"The things I do for you, Syd," he muttered in disbelief as he glanced down at his snoring friend. "I must be one hell of a classy guy, or one really stupid one." He couldn't help reaching down to pull Sydney's hair away from her face. "And, I've a feeling you're going to have a hell of a hangover when you wake up."

He made sure that she was completely covered, and then gave in to the urge to press his lips to her forehead. "Sweet dreams, my friend." He rose and went to take a very cold shower.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer- RH characters not mine. Thanks for the new reviews everyone- glad you are enjoying it. Superman song by Five for Fighting.

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**CHAPTER TWO**

Sydney awoke with a throbbing leg and a pounding headache. She moaned and shivered, simultaneously, then winced when she tried to move. What the hell had happened? There was something about an arrow, but after that she drew a blank.

Slowly lifting her head, she waited for the room to stop spinning and finally focused on the dark sky outside the small window. Where had the day had gone? She looked to the side and noticed the familiar form of Nigel, sleeping beside her. For some reason she couldn't fathom, she blushed.

They'd shared a bed before, so why should she be embarrassed by it? Why couldn't she remember what happened? She wanted to wake him and ask him, but felt it better to let him sleep. She realized that she really needed to pee, so carefully tossed back the covers, and rose from the bed, startled when her right leg gave out from under her.

Nigel awoke when she cried out and bolted up in bed. "Syd! Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"My leg!" She climbed back onto the bed as he reached for the lamp on his side. "What happened?"

"You were shot by an arrow," he explained moving over on the bed, though remaining under the covers, to check the dressing on her leg. "How does it feel?"

Sydney glanced down at the bandages on her leg, perplexed. "It's sore, not too bad, as long as I don't walk on it." She glanced wistfully toward the bathroom. "But I need to walk on it."

Nigel followed her gaze, and then climbed off the bed to help her, for once not the least bit shy at her seeing him in his shorts. "Here, grab hold."

She gratefully wrapped an arm around his neck and let him lead her to the bathroom. "Thanks, Nigel." She hopped inside. "I'll just be a minute."

"Take your time." Nigel yawned and leaned against the wall, God he was tired. At least Sydney seemed back to normal, but he wondered if she remembered anything about her behavior?

She opened the bathroom door a minute later and he helped her back to bed, before climbing back in himself.

"That's better," she sighed as she watched him switch off the light. She suddenly bolted up. "Nigel! Did we get the relic?"

"Yes, now go back to sleep." He snuggled down under the covers and turned his back to her. He'd gone back for the amulet after Sydney had passed out; after he made sure she was okay. There had been no other traps or problems in retrieving the relic.

She lay back on the pillow and relaxed. Part of her wanted to get up and go look at it, but she was too tired. She turned on her side, toward Nigel, careful of her leg, and tossed an arm over him, startled when he tensed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. What are you doing?"

She frowned and pulled back. "I…" What was she doing, she didn't usually cuddle with Nigel when they shared a bed, and they stayed on their assigned sides, even in sleep. So what had possessed her to throw her arm over him like that? "Just…saying good night."

She watched his shoulders relax. "Oh. Good night, Syd."

"Nigel, did…are you angry with me or anything?"

"No."

"Did something happen that I don't remember."

"No. Go to sleep, Syd."

Sydney could always tell when he was lying to her, and usually she only had to look him in the eye to make him confess. She leaned over him and switched the lamp back on. "Nigel?"

He sighed. "Yes?"

"Can you turn over, please?"

He turned and faced her, annoyed. "What?"

"What's wrong?"

He started to turn back. "You're still talking and I want to go to sleep."

She caught him and forced him to meet her gaze. "Nigel. Nigel! Look at me."

Nigel raised his eyes, reluctantly.

"Now, tell me what happened. Why don't I remember and why are you acting so…so weird?"

"You missed an arrow trap," he explained. "You were shot in the leg. I was worried it might be poisoned because you…you were acting strangely…"

"How strangely?"

Nigel ignored the question. "I brought you to the clinic, they stitched and wrapped your leg and confirmed that there was no poison in your system."

"Nigel…"

"They gave you antibiotic and painkillers, which are in my bag, if you need them.

"Nigel..."

"We came back here, you fell asleep, and I went back to get the relic."

Sydney was getting irritated now, but his last words gave her pause. "What do you mean _you_ went back for the relic? Alone?"

"Yes, alone, who else would be with me?"

"Nigel! You could have been hurt! How could you go off alone?"

Nigel was startled by her anger. "It wasn't like I had any choice, Syd," he reminded, defensively. "You've gone on hunts by yourself and besides, we'd already been through most of the cave, and I just had to finish up what we started."

"What if there had been another trap? What if you had been hurt or killed?"

"You charge ahead on your own all the time!"

"That's different…"

"Why, because you don't think I can handle anything without you? I can! I may not be as strong or as quick as you, but I'm not a complete idiot either!"

Sydney was speechless for several minutes, before she finally found her voice again. "Nigel, I…I didn't mean. I know you can handle yourself, but you nag me all the time about going off without you…"

"I don't nag!"

"Caution me then," she amended. "You don't like it when I go off on my own, do you?"

"Well…no…"

"And why is that?"

"Because…because you could get hurt and there'd be…there wouldn't be anyone to…well to help…"

"Right!" She pounced. "So, then why shouldn't I be just as concerned when you go off alone?"

"I…well… yes, you're right. Neither of us should go off without the other," Nigel agreed. "But there was no other choice, Sydney. If you had woken up and we didn't have the relic, you would have marched right back to those caves to get it, injured leg or not."

It annoyed her sometimes that he knew her so damn well. "Yes, okay. So, you went back and got it." She patted his shoulder, affectionately. "Good job, then. Sorry I snapped at you."

Nigel stared at her for a long moment, as if trying to decide what to say. "Is question period over? Can I please go back to sleep now?"

Sydney started to nod, and then remembered why she had started to question him to begin with. "As soon as you tell me what you meant by me acting strangely."

Nigel cursed silently and turned away from her, deliberately. "Good night, Sydney."

"Tell me."

Nigel was silent.

"I'm going to keep after you, until you tell me, Nigel," She warned, moving closer and leaning over him. "You know what I'm like when I get my teeth into something."

Nigel immediately flushed and his fingers went to the spot on his neck, which she had 'gotten her teeth into' earlier.

This, of course, caused Sydney to take notice of the marks on his neck and she frowned. She pulled his fingers away. "Nigel? Where did you get...?"

He groaned and pulled the pillow over his head. "Please let me go back to sleep?" he implored, and then continued to mutter something else, his voice muffled by the pillow.

Sydney bit her lip to keep from smiling at his pathetic plea, pulled the pillow away. "I can't understand you with that over your head, say again?"

"I was a really such a good assistant today!" Nigel exclaimed, frustrated. "I did everything I was supposed to. I took care of you and got you fixed up, and went back for that stupid relic all on my own and I didn't complain, not once! Now give me a break and let me go to sleep, please? I believe I've earned it."

Sydney caught him as he started to turn away from her again, and rolled him onto his back, pinning him there with a hand on either side of him. "I can appreciate that, Nigel, now talk."

Nigel flushed and tried to avoid her gaze. "I can't!"

"You can!"

"Why are you being mean to me? I told you I was good today…"

"You're good every day; why else would I keep you around? You're the best."

Nigel's cheeks glowed red, even as he smiled a little. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Now, talk."

He groaned and tried not to think of how similar their current positions were compared to earlier. "You…you promise you won't…break anything attached to…to my person?"

Sydney was startled he would think she would. "I promise."

"And…and you'll keep in mind that I did everything I could to…to dissuade you?"

Sydney started to frown; she didn't like the way that sounded. "Dissuade me from what, exactly?"

"Well, you…you were losing a lot of blood, Sydney, and…and I had to get you to a doctor…."

"Nigel…"

"And you were being particularly difficult, especially with the keys, I mean I could hardly get them myself and…"

"Nigel! What did I do?"

"You wouldn't move unless I gave you a kiss!" He exclaimed and the rest came out in an anxious rush of words. "And then you wouldn't give me the keys to drove…drive the jeep and...you put them down your shirt and you…you wanted me to get them but I couldn't because…and you wanted another kiss, and so I did because I had to get you to the hospital, but then when we got back here that stuff was still affecting you and your trousers were ripped so you had them off and then…"

Sydney's cheeks were glowing, from both shame and fury. What the hell was he saying? Had something happened to her that caused her to what…hit on him? Seduce him? His last words sunk in, about her having no pants on and her eyes moved again to the bruises on his neck, had she done that, marked him as hers, like an animal?

"What happened, Nigel?" she demanded. "What about my pants?"

Nigel was shaking and visibly anxious. "Nothing! I swear, Syd, nothing…nothing like, like what you're thinking! We just…you…you wanted to…to kiss and…"

"Just kiss?"

"A…amongst other things…"

"WHAT OTHER THINGS?"

"Not…not that! Not…we never…we just…God, no, just…we sort of….um…fell on the…um…floor and…and wrestled a bit, really. Just…just a little snogging…er…I mean, Syd, I swear I…I tried to stop you, but you…I was afraid I'd hurt you and…and you were already injured and then…"

Sydney's voice had risen dramatically in her dismay. "Then what?"

"You…then you passed out, Syd."

It took a moment for that to sink in. "Passed out?"

"Yes, what…whatever was affecting you, I…I guess it must have run its course and you…you just went to sleep. I…I think it was that stuff that came out of the wall, do you remember? When we were in the cavern, that mist that was floating around you?"

Sydney vaguely remembered falling against the wall and warning Nigel back, but after that everything was a total blank. She moved off him and sat up on her side of the bed. "So…you're saying I…I attacked you, Nigel?"

Nigel was immediately concerned by her phrasing and he also sat up. "No! Not…not attacked, exactly. I mean it…it wasn't you're fault you…you weren't yourself."

"But I…" She swallowed, appalled. "Forced myself on you?"

He shook his head, vehemently. He couldn't allow her to believe she had lost control or hurt him, he'd rather take the blame and have her accuse him of taking advantage then let her feel that kind of shame. "No, Syd. It wasn't like that."

"Then how was it?" she demanded. "Did I or did I not manipulate you into…into kissing me? Did I …attack you in this room?" She flushed with shame as she reached across to touch the marks on his neck. "Did I do this to you, hurt you?"

Nigel automatically pulled her hand away, gently so she would understand that he wasn't angry with her touching him. "That…that didn't hurt, Syd." He felt his cheeks grow warm, remembering his reaction to her teeth on him. "Trust me; I don't care in the least about that."

"I took advantage…I…I molested you, Nigel!"

"No, Syd!" he denied dismayed. How could she think such a thing? He tried to think how best to explain. "Syd…" He'd had several aggressive women paw him on occasion, but had never really considered it an assault, not really. Most of the time, he got just as much out of it as they did, but this was different.

This was Sydney and she took her responsibility for him very seriously, he'd realized that from day one. She was like a mother lion and he was her cub, she would do anything to protect him, even when he didn't need protecting and she would blame herself for anything that happened to him. It had taken him awhile to get used to such protectiveness, especially when it was constantly contradicted by her throwing him into wild and dangerous situations while on a hunt, but eventually he became used to it.

He realized that Sydney never tossed anything at him that she didn't think he couldn't handle, and although he didn't always have her faith in his abilities, he did the best he could to live up to her expectations. But, as time wore on and they became more of a team, he realized that as much as he admired her loyalty and, in truth, relied on her being the strength in their relationship, he didn't really need it anymore He had a mind of his own and although he was not as good at fighting as Sydney was, he could still manage to take care of himself.

He also recognized how volatile his friend could be and he had to be very careful now not to say the wrong thing. He scooted closer and reached to take her hand, then pulled back, reluctantly. "You…you didn't do anything I…" He lowered his eyes, God this was hard. In order to make her feel better, he was going to have to lower his defenses and put his heart on the line, open himself up for despair or ridicule.

Sydney glanced at him, watching the array of emotions that flickered across his young face. "Nigel…" She sensed what he was about to do, what he was willing to risk keeping her from blaming herself and panic seized her. "It was my fault…I…"

"Sydney, it wasn't…What you did…" He took a deep breath and forced himself to meet her gaze so that she would understand he spoke the truth. "What you did wasn't anything I didn't want, or haven't at one time thought about. It wasn't anything I…I would have said no to, even if…if you were yourself. But I…I didn't want to take advantage. I could never betray your trust that way, it means too much to me."

Sydney stared at him and felt her heart rate increase. Did he mean it? She'd always been aware of the chemistry between them, but always discouraged any romance between them. She'd had enough of infatuated assistants, and she hadn't wanted to mar their working relationship with something that could potentially lead to disaster. Then, as they started to work more closely together, and became the closest of friends, she had put it out of her mind that he even thought of her that way anymore. They flirted with each other on occasion, but that was just play, it never meant anything; at least she hadn't thought it did.

"Nigel?"

"It…it's no big deal, Syd," he assured, wishing she would stop looking at him with those big, soulful eyes of hers. "I mean…it was just us...I mean, you and me. We…we've been in much…um…worse situations, right? I mean, there have been plenty of…of times that we…well were forced into doing something…er…inappropriate, but it's just us, so we…it's okay, right? We're friends so…so we accept it and move on, right?"

Please say yes, he pleaded silently. He didn't want anything to change. Their agreement to remain united, no matter what happened was one of the things he loved about their relationship; regardless of what was thrown at them, they came out intact, still close friends and never with any embarrassment.

She should have left it at that. She should have agreed and ended both of their discomfort, but that damned insatiable curiosity got the better of her. "What…what sort of things have you…thought of us doing, Nigel?"

He looked away, wishing now he had never started this bloody conversation. He wasn't ready for a full confession, but nor could he lie to her. "What…what do you think?"

She caught his chin and forced him to meet her gaze. "You think me…like that?"

"S…sometimes…but it's only natural, I mean we spend a lot of…of time together and you…well you're incredibly beautiful, Syd, but I never let it…"

"You think about…about kissing me? Just kissing?"

"Among…amongst other things."

"But you never…" She realized how difficult it must have been for him to hide his feelings all this time, and her heart ached for him.

She'd never meant to hurt him like that, never meant to put either of them in the kind of situation that she'd deliberately tried to avoid. She prided herself on her sense of fairness. She didn't tease men, at least not intentionally. She was a firm believer that if you're going to play the game, you'd better intend for a few innings at least.

You've never said anything."

He clasped his hands together and stared down at the worn, ugly carpet. "How could I? We're friends, Syd. Partners."

"Is that all you want to be?"

He licked his lips, nervously. "It's what we are. I…I wouldn't trade our relationship, or your trust in me for anything." He shook his head, still unable to meet her gaze. "I'd never do anything to…to ruin it."

"Do you think it would be ruined if we were…more?"

"I don't know, but it's a risk and I…" He rose, suddenly and moved to glance out the window, needing to put some distance between them and again, wishing she had just let him go to sleep. "I don't want to lose what we have, Sydey." His voice was soft, deeper than usual as he attempted to reign in his emotions and find a way to end this ridiculously awkward conversation. "It's the best…the strongest relationship I've ever been in. I'm afraid I'll foul it up." He traced a raindrop with his fingertip as it slid down the outside pane. "And you…romantically you deserve much better."

Sydney wanted to go to him, but knew her leg wouldn't hold her. She wanted him to come back to the bed, to turn and look at her, and mostly, to she wanted her heart to stop skipping each time he spoke in that quiet, devastatingly shy voice. "Better how?"

He sighed, turned and leaned his back against the window, crossing his arms over his chest as he again, focused on a spot on the carpet. "You're a Queen among Queens, Sydney; a Goddess. There is no one else like you, no one with your heart, your courage, or your... incredible brilliance. You deserve a Prince to rule beside you. A leader among men who…who matches your strength and your tenacity and your…" He lifted his gaze to hers. "Beauty."

Sydney blinked back the sudden moisture in her eyes. Never had she heard such a beautiful and sincere tribute. "Don't sell yourself short. No one else could possible compare to you." Those beautiful blue-green eyes flickered in surprise and she realized she didn't want him to doubt himself, or the possibility that he had a chance with her. She was just a woman, attracted to a man who was obviously attracted to her. A kind, sweet, sincerely gentle man; so completely not her type; and yet... She didn't deserve to be put on such an impossibly high pedestal.

"Could you come over here please?"

He hesitated only a moment before complying and settling beside her, startled when she caught his face between her hands and leaned in to kiss him lightly on the lips.

When she pulled back, her eyes remained locked on his and she almost sobbed at the insecurity she saw there. Had she done that to him with all these years of slapping down the idea of something more between them?

"Are...are you feeling okay, Syd?" he asked, concerned that the mist effect was back.

And there was the knife in her gut. Of course he would assume the worst again. And why wouldn't he? She never kissed him, unless it was for a distraction. "I'm fine, Nigel." She dropped her hands and continued to stare at him, willing him to see only her sincerity and not the sheer panic that was crawling up from her toes to find its way into her heart.

He was so damn important to her, so much a part of her life, but she knew relationships were not her strong point. She didn't want to ruin it, didn't want to spoil what they had; but she couldn't let him go on thinking the attraction wasn't mutual. She couldn't be that kind of woman. Oddly, she was reminded of a song sung by Rizzo in the musical Grease and knew that, just like the tough leader of the Pink Ladies, not admitting the truth would be the worst thing she could do.

"Whatever you want this time," she said, her decision made. "I won't push it."

Nigel was confused. "What…what do you mean?"

"Do you want to…I'm giving you permission to, to kiss me, Nigel. If…if you want to."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I want you to."

"And you're feeling okay?"

She nodded.

Nigel was silent for a long time, wondering if she was serious or if somehow the drug was still affecting her. It had to be the drug, there was no way she...unless she felt sorry for him, and that was even worse. Dear God, what if he had opened his big mouth and completely ruined their dynamic? But if he said no to her now, and it wasn't the drugs or pity- what would he be throwing away? Would it hurt her feelings? He never wanted to do that. Christ, he should have never said a word!

"Sydney, don't…don't take this wrong, but I'd rather…I can't be sure…" He ran a hand through his hair, in obvious agitation. "Could you give me permission...um... after we get home?"

"Sure, Nigel." She knew what he was asking, he wasn't sure if she was still in control of herself and not some mystical aphrodisiac. His concern for her virtue was adorable. "When we get home, then."

He nodded and felt relief flood him. This whole thing was seriously starting to freak him out. "Right, so…let's go to sleep then?"

Sydney nodded and they both snuggled down under the covers. Nigel again turned on his side and was startled when an arm wrapped around him. "Good night, Nigel," she whispered, giving him a playful squeeze, before dropping her head onto her pillow.

He had tensed for only a moment and then relaxed. He had a feeling that things were not going to look any better in the morning, but decided losing sleep over it would not make it any better. He closed his eyes, determined. "Sweet dreams, Syd."

Sydney waited until she was sure he had drifted off and then smiled. "Sweet dreams, my Prince."

* * *

Nigel was lying in bed staring up at the ceiling and unable to sleep. This last relic hunt had gone unusually well. They'd followed the clues that led to recovering the relic without much fuss at all, aside from a couple of traps that both he and Sydney had instantly spotted. It was almost a disappointment to have the hunt go so smoothly, especially considering all that had happened on their last hunt, to Sydney especially.

He blinked as he realized what a horrible thing it was to be disappointed not to have been shot at, almost killed, or led on a wild goose chase through impossibly rough terrain or snake-infested jungles. Was he becoming an adrenalin junkie like Sydney?

He raised his arms over his head. No. He would never enjoy the hunt like she did. He liked the discovery but never look forward to the physicality and danger of the actual hunt. He had just become accustomed to being in worse situations and so an uneventful hunt seemed...lacking. He shivered slightly…How his life had changed. It used to be the opposite and all the danger and running about was surreal. How very odd.

He rose from the bed, disgruntled with his inability to relax and moved towards the window. He pulled it open and allowed the gentle, familiar evening mist of London to fill his room. There was a patio lounge beneath their hotel and he could hear music floating up from below, remarkably they were playing one of his favorite songs.

_I can't stand to fly  
I'm not that naive  
I'm just out to find  
the better part of me_

Nigel felt that way sometimes, always searching for the person inside himself. Sydney had helped to unlock much of his inner persona and had in fact uncovered a man he never knew existed. It was because of her that he was the person he was today and he liked who he had become; despite the inner struggles his growth had caused. He was blessed the day he had met her and would always be grateful for all that she had done for him.

_I'm more than a bird. I'm more than a plane  
More than some pretty face beside a train  
And it's not easy to be me_

Sydney stepped out onto the balcony of her hotel room. The night breeze pulled at the hem of her long nightgown and tickled her bare feet. She leaned over the rail to check out the party below. She had been unable to sleep and was too restless to read so when she heard the music she couldn't resist opening her doors; she loved this song. She certainly could see the truth in the words. She often struggled with stereotypes and bias, despite her reputation.

So many people still only saw her as a woman, a pretty face with a good body. Men were either enamored of her or afraid of her. Neither reaction was based on how well they knew her, which was not at all. Her relationships always ended badly because men saw her as a challenge and once conquered, they were either put off by her independence or by the slightest sign of vulnerability. Except with Nigel, she never worried that he would think her weak.

_Wish that I could cry  
Fall upon my knees  
Find a way to lie  
About a home I'll never see_

Nigel had always had trouble expressing himself, especially when it came to the really deep and profound feelings. Fear he could express, he'd had little choice in that area since meeting Sydney because he had been so out of his element, but he was getting better at concealing it now. Amusement and concern were easy things to show, but the other emotions were much more difficult.

He loved working with Sydney and he enjoyed his work for the university, but sometimes he just wanted to be here at home. In a place that was familiar and where he could really be himself; boring bookworm Nigel Bailey and not world side kick to world famous Sydney Fox.

_It may sound absurd but don't be naive  
Even Heroes have the right to bleed  
I may be disturbed but won't you concede  
Even Heroes have the right to dream  
It's not easy to be me_

Sometimes Sydney got so tired of it all she just wanted to give up relic hunting for good. The constant traveling and the danger took its toll on her as much as it did Nigel. The never-ending pressure when everyone assumed that she had all the answers. Even Nigel looked to her for guidance and always expected her to get them out of the bad situations. His faith in her was frightening because she didn't even have that much faith in herself.

She wondered if he suspected that she dreamed of other things, like getting married and having a family. She'd always been happiest when she was teaching and one day she dreamed of writing the great American novel; but she never had time for it anymore. She loved her work and was good at it. She believed in what she and Nigel were doing, but sometimes it all got to be too much. Sometimes she wished no one knew Sydney Fox as anyone but a fine teacher and a good person. Yes, she'd settle for that.

_Up, up and away away from me  
It's all right You can all sleep sound tonight  
I'm not crazy or anything_.

Sydney was a hero and Nigel did feel safer with her around, but he knew that she was human too and it frightened him sometimes how invincible she thought she was. More than once he wanted to argue about some of her decisions, or he'd get so infuriated with her recklessness that he'd have the impulse to just leave her and let her find her own way out of a snake infested jungle or booby-trapped temple. But, he knew that he would never do that. She expected him to be there. She expected him to be as brave as she was and so he swallowed his fear and followed where she led. To everyone else Sydney was a hero, but to him she was his friend and to Nigel Bailey, that held so much more weight than any other status that could be awarded.

_I can't stand to fly  
I'm not that naive  
Men weren't meant to ride  
With clouds between their knees_

Sydney suddenly thought of Nigel and the way he was always reminding her that they weren't invincible and how often he tried to dissuade her from doing something too dangerous. He didn't think of himself as a hero, and he was certainly fallible, but she thought he earned the title well enough. He was always there for her, would brave any obstacle and overcome any danger for her. Most importantly he never wanted to change her. She had met stronger men, wiser men, though Nigel's intelligence was vast, and she had bedded her share of rogues. Nigel was better than all of them, because he didn't pretend to be more than he was and while he admitted to his own weaknesses it never stopped him from doing what he had to do.

_I'm only a man in a silly red sheet  
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street  
Only a man in a funny red sheet  
Looking for special things inside of me_

_Inside of me, inside of me,_

_Yeah inside of me, inside of me_

Nigel crossed his arms over his bare chest and leaned against the windowsill. He closed his eyes and instantly pictured Sydney in some of her most vulnerable situations, a state she would never allow anyone else to see. He had been like everyone else when he had first met her, believed she that she was invincible, but he knew better now.

He understood that behind Sydney's confident veneer it bothered her to be viewed as perfect. He sighed as he remembered his fumbled words to her last week, realized that he had probably made her think he believed the same thing' calling her a Queen and a Goddess. That hadn't been what he meant and he didn't know why he had said those things, except that she was so good and true; and...well, hell, damn near perfect as a woman could be; at least in his eyes.

He was an idiot and despite the fact that Sydney was right across the hall, he suddenly missed his friend very, very much. Ignoring the urge to go to her room and knock on her door, he turned away from the window and returned to his bed,

_I'm only a man in a funny red sheet_

_Only a man looking for a dream_

_I'm only a man in a funny red sheet_

_And it's not easy_…..

Sydney smiled at the image of Nigel running around in tights and a red cape. No, he needed a better costume than that, perhaps as a noble Page, or even a Knight? Yes, she could see that, Sir Nigel Bailey. She inhaled deeply and her amusement fled. Damn she was lonely and suddenly the song was making her sad. It irked her that everyone assumed because of who she was and how she looked that she had a fleet of men on standby. She'd surpassed that frivolity years ago and she wanted something meaningful now. She wondered if Nigel was asleep.

_It's not easy to be me._

Nigel was startled by a knock on his door as he crawled back into bed. He quickly shrugged into his slacks, and then opened the door. Sydney stood on the other side, silhouetted in her long black nightgown by the soft lighting of the corridor.

"Hi."

He blinked and felt his heart lift at the sight of her. He wondered why, after almost a decade together, he still got that little flutter whenever she walked into a room? "Hi."

"Did I wake you?"

He shook his head. "No. Is anything wrong, Syd?"

"Can we talk?"

It was rather late at night to be having a chat. Besides, ever since their adventure a few weeks ago he'd been trying to avoid being in a bedroom with Sydney. Not that he blamed her for what happened; in fact they both seemed to have put it behind them and had not mentioned it again. But, it didn't keep him from remembering the feel of her hands on him when they were in close proximity or the incredible intoxication of her kisses. He kept reminding himself that they were only friends.

"Um...now?"

"Unless you're too tired?"

"No, I'm awake." He retrieved his shirt off the chair and went to pulled it on.

Sydney frowned, aware that he had been a little more bashful around her ever since the night she was affected by that strange substance in the cave. She still felt horrible for her shocking behavior, which she still didn't remember any part of, and Nigel insisted he was not carrying a grudge.

"You don't have to get dressed on my account," she assured as she walked over to settle on the bed and patted the space beside her. "Come on, let's talk.

He hesitated a moment, and then settled on the end of the bed. "So…what's this all about then?"

"I was just wondering how you would feel about taking a little side trip while we're here, before we go back home?"

"A side trip? Where to?" Nigel's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Someone's called you? They need you to find a relic?"

"No…."

"A friend of yours is in trouble or dying and we have to go save them?"

Sydney smirked. "No…."

Nigel frowned, trying to think of any other reasons. "You…you've heard about a conference you want to attend?"

"No, Nigel. It isn't about…."

"Confucius called and he wants his ashes back?"

She laughed. "Nigel, not everything I do is related to relic hunting."

"It isn't?"

Sydney resisted the urge to swat him. "I just thought you'd like to spend a little more time here," she suggested. "It is your home after all and we don't have anything pressing happening back in the States."

Nigel blinked, confused. He was waiting for the punch line. "You…you mean like a holiday?" He sat up again. "You want to take an actual holiday, here in London?" He suddenly remembered the way their newest client had been looking at Sydney since they had started their hunt.

Duke Myerson was a friend of the Dean at Trinity University and Sydney had been pressured into finding a relic for him. Although the Duke donated the relic to the London Museum, with plenty of opportune press for himself, Nigel could see the real treasure that the Duke was hoping to retain was Sydney Fox.

"Oh…Oh, I see," he continued as it dawned on him why she might want to stay. He swallowed his disapproval. Myerson was a typical boorish Aristocrat and had rubbed Nigel the wrong way since the first day. He had thought Sydney had found the man just as unpleasant but apparently not. "Look, Syd if you want to…um stick around with the Duke that's your choice, but I don't need to be here for that and I…You needn't feel obligated to have me stay. I have plenty of work back at the university waiting for me and…"

"Nigel, what the hell are you babbling about?"

"Sorry?"

"What's all this about the Myerson?"

"Isn't that why you want to stay, to…to explore…um…something with him?"

Sydney almost laughed aloud. Her and the Duke? The man was impossibly conceited and treated people like they were part of his vast collection of antiques and artwork. She'd known too many men like him to even consider anything beyond a working relationship with him. Trust Nigel to think she'd only suggest staying so she could have an affair; how selfish did he think she was anyway? "No," she denied. "I'm talking about you and me, Nige. I thought we'd do some site seeing, maybe drive around the country and find one of those nice little bed and breakfasts to stay at." She smiled again. "We've had a busy year, don't you want a break?"

"I…well, yes of course but…I…I just never expected you to…to agree to letting me."

"Nigel, I'm not an ogre."

"Oh no!" Nigel hadn't meant to say that, "I know you're not, you're wonderful! I didn't mean…I just…" He lowered his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. God he was such an idiot sometimes.

Sydney let him off the hook by reaching into the pocket of her robe and handing him a long white envelope; the seal had already been broken. "I was going to surprise you with this tomorrow, but I figure it might better explain what I'm trying to say."

Nigel regarded her curiously. He pulled out the letter and glanced around for his glasses, which were probably with his laptop case.

Sydney explained the details of the letter to save him hunting for his spectacles. "It's from the university, Nigel. It's a thank you letter for all our efforts the past three years, with acquiring relics and bringing so much extra money and publicity to the school."

"Really?" Nigel's eyes widened. "Well, that is…that's lovely. How nice of them to do that."

Sydney picked up the check that had dropped onto the bed when he opened the letter. "And this is for us."

Nigel stared at the check in amazement. He had to be seeing double. "That…that can't be right." He didn't need his glasses to read all those zeros after his and Sydney's name. "I…I don't understand."

"It's a bonus check, Nigel. The university felt we deserved a little something extra and at first I was going to refuse it because neither of us does this for the money. But then I thought, why not? We deserve a little comfort, so I thought we could cash our check and have some fun. What do you think?"

Nigel couldn't think. He was speechless. It was very nice to be appreciated by the university, but he had never expected anything like this. "I…I don't know what to say, Syd."

"Well, if you prefer to take your own holiday, I'll understand. I mean you spend enough time with me as it is and…"

"NO!" Nigel's hand darted out for hers; he didn't want her to misunderstand. Spending a holiday with her would be a dream come true. No relics, no men trying to kill them, no traps or grungy caves. "I…I'd love to take a holiday with you, Syd." He glanced down as if just realizing that he was touching her. He pulled away. "Really. I'm just…overwhelmed."

Sydney smiled and rose to return to the door. "Great! We'll have a ball, Nige."

Nigel returned her smile briefly, set the letter and check on his nightstand and pulled off his slacks while her back was turned. He slid beneath the sheets and snuggled down against his pillows again. "Sounds perfect, Syd." He was finally getting sleepy.

Sydney opened the door, and then turned around and stared at him. Her bedroom suddenly seemed very far away. She closed the door and leaned against it. They hadn't shared a bed together in a long time, except for the incident a few weeks ago. She missed waking up next to him. "Nigel?"

His eyes were already closed. "Hmmm?"

"I'm too tired to go back to my room."

Nigel didn't even bat an eyelash. He tossed the covers back and she hurried over to climbed in.. She lay there for a minute and then sat up. "Nigel."

"Oh, right, sorry." Nigel slid over to the right side of the bed as Sydney climbed over him to the left.

"Thanks, Nigel."

"Anytime, Syd."


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer- you know the drill. Yada yada...enjoy the chapter. _

_CHAPTER 3 _

Nigel and Sydney found a delightful bed and breakfast just outside of Kent the following evening. They had explored several of the sights of London, after bidding The Duke farewell and thanking him for his hospitality of course. The older man did not seem pleased that they were leaving already, but he was the epitome of graciousness when they said good-bye.

"This is beautiful," Sydney commented as Nigel pulled their bags from the car they had rented, along with some of the shopping that they had done in London. "This house must be over a hundred years old!"

A petite gray haired woman waved at them from the front steps of the beautiful sandstone split-level home. "One hundred and fifty to be precise," she called smiling. "Welcome. Come in, quickly. It's about to rain."

Nigel and Sydney glanced up. It was overcast, but there had been no rain in the weather forecast they had listened to earlier. They hurried inside and the woman led them to the area just inside the foyer, where she slipped behind a cozy desk built into the wall.

"My name is Janice," she greeted warmly as she offered them a thick leather bound book with slightly yellowing pages. "It's so nice to have you here. It's the off season so we don't get many visitors out our way this time of year." She reached behind her for a room key as Sydney signed their names to the register.

Nigel flinched, startled as a loud pop of thunder boomed overhead, and glanced out the window, amazed at the torrential rains that had started to fall.

"I have just the room for you," Janice assured, brightly. "It's our best, has a wonderful view of the lake and a king sized canopy bed." She winked at them. "Perfect for young, energetic couples."

Nigel's attention returned to her immediately as he flushed. "Oh no," he protested quickly. "We…we're not together. Well, we're together, but not…"

"We'd like two rooms please," Sydney finished rolling her eyes. One of the most brilliant minds of the century and the man got verbal diarrhea whenever the topic turned to anything of a sexual nature.

Janice frowned for a second. "Oh?" Then she gasped. "OH! I'm sorry, I assumed…Well, it's just that you two make such a nice couple. My apologies." She turned back and glanced at her selection of keys, as if picking just the right pair was crucial.

"I'll take that first room," Sydney offered, to save her the trouble. "I like a view."

Janice smiled and nodded, then selected another key from the hooks and glanced at Nigel, hesitantly. "Is it all right if your room is next door to hers, then?"

"That's fine," he assured.

Janice's earlier vitality was restored and she stepped from around the desk. "Follow me."

They walked with her up two flights of stairs and stopped at the end of the hall. "This is your room, my dear."

Sydney stepped inside and looked around impressed. The room was painted a royal blue and deep gold with ivory boarders. The bed was indeed massive and took up a good portion of the room, with a blue and gold canopy that reached almost to the ceiling. An antique sitting table, a roll top desk and a small sitting area was to the left with blue velvet covered chairs in front of a stone fireplace. Two French doors led to a stone balcony outside and, as advertised, did indeed have a fantastic view of the lake.

"The bathroom is through there," Janice directed smiling. "This is the only room that has its own connecting bathroom." She glanced at Nigel, sympathetically. "I'm afraid you'll have to share yours with any other people that might drop in; it's the third door down on the right."

"I'll manage thanks." Nigel set Sydney's bag by the bed and also glanced around. "It is a great room, Syd."

Sydney grinned and wandered in to explore the bathroom. A small glass enclosed shower, a large antique tub and a matching porcelain stand up sink sat beneath a gilded antique mirror. Old fashioned but comfortable. She checked her reflection in the mirror, brushed out her hair a little then stepped back into the bedroom, surprised to find herself alone.

Heading out into the hall to find Nigel, she paused in the doorway of the room next door to hers and noticed that Nigel's bags were in the chair and his laptop case was on the queen-sized bed, but he was nowhere in sight. She suspected that he was in the washroom down the hall so she explored his small suite, which was not near as grand as hers, but comfortable and also furnished with antiques; the color scheme in this room was of greens and deep browns.

"Tired of your view already?" Nigel taunted as he entered and found her seated on his bed.

She offered him a forlorn look. "I feel bad that your room isn't as nice."

He scoffed and moved around her to open his case. "Don't lie, it doesn't become you."

Sydney grinned and flopped back on his bed, gleefully. "It IS a great room."

"We've established that."

"Be nice or I won't invite you to visit," she teased, rolling onto her side and bracing her head with her hand as she watched him pull out his laptop and start plugging in the cords. "What are you doing?"

He crouched to find an outlet. "I thought I'd work on those rubbings from our last hunt."

Sydney reached over and closed the laptop. "No work, remember? We're on vacation."

Nigel blinked. "You're not serious?" He chuckled. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with the real Sydney Fox?"

Sydney sat up, grabbed his laptop and shoved it back into its case. "I can stop working, Nigel."

He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. "I don't believe it." He waged his finger at her. "You'll never last, Syd. We both know it. I give you twenty four hours before we end up searching for something or up to our neck in trouble."

"I can do it, Nigel."

Nigel just stared at her.

She rose, deliberately. "Fine, want to bet on that?"

"Sure, what shall we bet, fifty, a hundred?" He grinned. "I could use a new pair of boots."

"No, not for money," she refused. "That's too boring. Let's make this interesting."

Nigel regarded her warily, he hated when she got that look in her eye, it always ended up with him humiliating himself in some way. "Interesting…how, exactly?"

"You say I can't go twenty four hours without working, right?"

"I say it because it's true, Sydney. You'll either stumble onto a possible hunt, or some government agent will show up with an offer you can't refuse or we'll be kidnapped by a madman and forced to find a relic for him or…"

Sydney held up her hands in defeat. He had a point because usually something like that did happen, but she really wanted to take this vacation and she meant to enjoy it come hell or high water. She deserved it, they both did, and she'd been feeling a little worn out lately. Besides, there were more important things she needed to attend to and she was not a woman who procrastinated.

"In the past all of that was true, but not anymore. Now we take a vacation and all I intend to do is enjoy myself and have fun."

Nigel continued to stare at her and then shook his head and reached for the laptop case. "Whatever you say."

"Fine, we make a bet then. I bet that I can go twenty four hours without getting involved in anything about relics or ancient history."

Nigel sighed. All right, if she wanted to proceed in this foolishness he'd go along. "And what are the stakes to be?"

Sydney thought for a moment, and then grinned. "If I win, you have to grade all the exams for the rest of the semester, without any help from me, and you have to teach my classes every Wednesday and Friday for a month."

Nigel winced. The grading the papers he could handle, he wouldn't be thrilled about it but it was not that big a deal. Teaching her Ancient Studies classes would be more of a problem. Wednesdays and Fridays seemed to be her Amazon classes, filled with the most beautiful and, unfortunately, brazenly flirtatious young women on campus. He hated those classes, he always felt like the prize dinner at a smorgasbord and was sure they never listened to a word he said. They'd just sit there sighing, or making overt gestures with their bodies for his eyes alone, it was very exasperating and embarrassing.

"Well?" Sydney taunted, sensing his hesitation. "You're so sure I'll lose, right?"

"Yes, well, what do I get when I win?"

Sydney ignored the fact that Nigel said _when_, instead of _if_ he won and took a step closer, her face just inches from his. In a feather soft voice she said. "Permission."

Nigel blinked, confused. "W…what?"

"You get my permission, Nigel."

He swallowed, hard. Her words instantly drew him back to an earlier time, several weeks ago when they had spoken of permission, but she couldn't possibly mean the same thing. She hadn't been herself at the time and he had been more than a little frazzled as well. Neither of them had mentioned _that_ night again, so he thought that she had forgotten.

"P…permission? For…um…what exactly?" He had to have misunderstood her. He had to be wrong!

Sydney was surprised that she had shaken him so badly. "For whatever you want, Nigel."

"Sorry?" His voice was little more than a squeak.

Sydney tried not to roll her eyes. "If you win the bet, what would you like for your prize?"

His first thought was her, but then he struggled to recover his senses. She was just teasing him, as usual and so he pushed all other inappropriate thoughts away. He tried to think of something really good, because he would win; Sydney would never be able to resist. "Um…Let me think about it for a minute."

She nodded and moved to the window giving Nigel some time to compose himself. She hadn't expected her offer to be received so badly. Had she misjudged him? He'd said before that what had happened between them wasn't anything he didn't want. She wondered now if he had only said that to make her feel less guilty for practically molesting him.

She'd been thinking about the things he'd said to her that night, the sweet sincerity of his words, and she'd decided that spending some real time with Nigel would give her the answers she needed. A vacation was an opportune time to see how he might really feel about her, but now she was might need to reconsider.

She glanced back at him and watched him pull his lap top back out of the case and coil the cords properly, since she had just shoved them inside. "It's really coming down out there."

"Yeah," he nodded intent on his task.

Sydney turned her attention back to the window. She knew that Nigel would look at her when he had collected himself and not before. He always avoided her eyes when he was especially nervous and she knew why, his eyes were the windows to his soul and he was afraid she would see something he wasn't ready to show her. "Kinda spooky how Janice knew it was about to rain."

"This is England, it rains seventy percent of the time here especially in spring. She played the odds and that's all."

She turned back to him. "Well, we won't be able to go anywhere else today, so what else shall we do?"

Nigel closed his laptop case and fell back upon his usual wit. "Well, we could…work."

She pulled a face at him and walked around the bed. His color had returned so she felt it safe to continue their earlier conversation. "Have you thought of what you want yet?"

"I want many things, it's what I think I can have that is the issue here, Sydney."

Sydney's eyes widened amused. "Nigel!"

"What?"

She pursed her lips. He looked so damned innocent, even when he was talking dirty to her. "Anything you can think of you can have," she countered. "It won't matter though, because you'll lose the bet." She was both disappointed and proud when he didn't even blush at her remark.

"Oh really? You're that sure?"

"I'm positive."

He smiled slowly, a predatory smile that Sydney had never seen him use in the three years that she had known him. "All right. If I win, and I will win, we toast to my success and get absolutely pissed."

It took Sydney a moment to realize that he meant intoxicated and not start fighting each other. Sometimes the differences in their cultures and how they interpreted certain words was amusing. "That's it? We get drunk together?"

"I think my victory over you would warrant such a celebration, don't you?" He smirked. "Besides, I have never seen you drunk and you've seen me that way several times. I think turnabout is fair play."

Sydney grinned. "Ah, so you just want to see if I'll make a fool of myself?"

"Not necessarily. I just want to see what you're like when you're guard isn't always up."

"Nigel!"

"Oh come on, it's just a bet. You know my mates and I were always up for going to the pub and having a few pints. Drinking together is part of the ritual in London." He regarded her seriously. "You're my best friend, Syd and we've only ever done that a few times, and we've never done it outside of while searching for a relic."

Sydney felt herself melt at the idea that Nigel wanted to make her part of such an important tradition. She felt guilty for never having asked him do something like it before now, on their own time. "And that's it, we just get toasted?"

"Well, no, we get happily toasted when there are no relics to chase, no phone calls to take and no interruptions."

"And then what?"

Nigel glanced at her and shrugged, though his eyes twinkled. "Then… we'll see what happens."

Sydney stared at him, startled by his daring. Did he mean that? No, after his reaction earlier she must have misunderstood. He probably meant what he said, that he wanted to see her let her hair down. She smiled, slowly. It wouldn't matter because she could hold her liquor much better than he could, but even if he didn't win she'd drink with him, now that she understood why it was important.

"Is that all?" she asked.

"Well, since you're putting up your classes for your end, you can also pay for those boots I want."

"No problem."

"They're three hundred quid, Syd."

Sydney didn't even blink as she held out her hand. "Deal."

Nigel shook her hand. "Deal."

* * *

Sydney opened the door to her room, wearily pulled off her satchel and jacket and headed straight for the bathroom. God she was sore! She needed a nice hot; soothing bath and that beautiful claw foot ceramic tub that waited for her would be perfect for a sensational bubble bath. She started the water and poured in the complimentary suds that Janice had left in the bathroom, and then she returned to get out of her dirty clothes.

She hated that Nigel had been right and she hadn't been able to go twenty-four hours without working, but the chance to find Aruba's Choker was just too good a find to pass up. Nigel was just as excited at the prospect when they had been approached so she was sure that he wouldn't hold it against her, but what should have been a routine couple of hours had turned into three days of hell.

She piled her hair atop her head and headed in to check her bath. The bubbles were almost over the rim, so she switched off the taps and climbed in, sighing as she sank beneath the heat of the water.

She felt like she had just started to drift when she heard her name being called and she sat up with a star. The water in the tub was much cooler and her bubbles were almost gone. "In here."

"Where are…" Nigel halted in his tracks at the vision of her in the old fashioned bathtub with hardly any foam left to cover her. He almost knocked himself unconscious in his attempt to quickly cover his eyes as he stepped back out. "God! S...sorry, Syd!"

She sighed and reluctantly rose from the tub, wrapping her body up in a large fluffy towel. "That's okay, I must have fallen asleep."

She released her hair from its clip and stepped back into the bedroom, noticing that Nigel had gathered up the clothes she had tossed aside earlier in her eagerness to get to her bath and placed them neatly in one of the chairs; he really was such a good assistant. He had retreated to the balcony and the sweet smell of rain blew in from outside; it had been raining on and off all day and a severe thunderstorm was forecasted to hit the area; but it had stopped again for the moment.

"What did you need?"

"Oh, just...um...to see if you were hungry." He glanced at her for a moment before quickly looking away again and resting his arms on the balcony railing, as if determined to keep himself facing forward. "Janice has made a pot roast."

"Sounds great," Sydney agreed as she dried off and pulled on her robe, then noticed that Nigel was actually wearing a well faded pair of blue jeans. She had never seen him in anything but his usual Dockers or casuals; except when he wore a suit, and the pants in question seemed to fit much snugger than the ones he usually wore.

She walked over and couldn't resist swatting that perfectly positioned behind. "These are nice, spray them on did you?"

Nigel was startled by her slap, but ignored the remark. "You okay? You never fall asleep in the bath."

"I'm just tired," she assured as she mimicked his position holding onto the rail but making a show of leaning backwards to take another look at his ass. "So…about these jeans. Did you have to crawl into them wet or slick yourself up with…"

"They aren't that tight, Sydney!"

"Really? I didn't know you even owned a pair of jeans, Nigel. I've never seen you wear any."

"I own a couple of pair, but they're not as conducive to crawling around booby-trapped caves and outrunning an armed battalion of gunmen as my other clothes are."

"They're too tight you mean."

He deliberately looked in the opposite direction, pretending to enjoy the view of the lake.

She moved closer and he ignored her. She nudged him and whispered in his ear. "I can practically see your pulse through them, Nigel"

"My pulse is above my waist, Sydney Fox!"

She giggled at his offense. "It looks good from there too."

Nigel glared at her but his lips started to slip into a smile and he turned away again. "I'm not going to win this one, so I'm just going to shut up now."

Sydney smiled and indicated the flicker of lightening that streaked across the ominously dark sky. "Looks like Mother Nature intends to make this one last awhile."

"She's just teasing us," Nigel assured calmly as a rumble of thunder sounded overhead. "I think most of it has passed, this is just the tail end of the storm."

They stood in comfortable silence for awhile, and then it started to rain and they quickly stepped inside. "Why not go get us some food?"

His concern returned. "Sure you wouldn't rather just take a nap?"

"No, I'd better eat or I'll regret it later." She stretched. "But ask if we can eat in the room, I'm too tired to go down to the dining room."

"Okay, I'll go fetch you a plate then."

Sydney stepped out of the way so he could pass her and noticed that he must have also showered, he smelled of soap and a light aftershave. "Don't forget the bubbly,"

Nigel paused and turned back. "Sorry?"

Sydney moved over to the bed and sat down, demurely. "For the bet. You did win, Nigel."

He regarded her for a moment, a strange look on his face, and then he turned away. "That doesn't have to be now, Syd. You're tired and…"

"No time like the present, Nigel." She was actually looking forward to it.

He shrugged. "Whatever you say." He opened the door to leave and was startled to find Janice on the other side, her hand raised to knock.

"OH! I'm sorry, I checked your room and you weren't there."

"No, I was just checking to see if Sydney wanted dinner," Nigel replied as Sydney joined him at the door and smiled at the older woman.

"Nigel was telling me you made a pot roast," she said. "My mouth is already watering."

Janice flushed with pleasure.

"What did you need me for?" Nigel asked Janice.

"Oh, well nothing incredibly important it's just…" She bit her lip. "Well there is a horrible storm brewing again, as you know."

Nigel and Sydney nodded.

"Well, we had bus load of sightseers arrive earlier, while you were both out, and they didn't want to chance getting caught in the storm because it is thirty miles to the next inn or hotel. Well, two young backpackers just arrived and I don't have any rooms left and…well I was wondering. Oh, I shouldn't ask, it's a terrible imposition."

"Ask what, Janice?" Sydney asked, encouragingly.

The woman looked back and forth between the two, her eyes settling on Nigel. "Since you two are friends all ready, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind…" Again she shook her head and lowered her eyes.

"If Nigel and I can share and you can give the extra room to the hikers?" Sydney finished for her, understanding that the woman was mortified for having to ask. "Sure, Janice, that's not a problem."

"Are you sure?"

"No, it's fine," Nigel assured with a small smile. "Just give me a minute to get my things out of the other room."

Janice took his hand gratefully. "You're both so sweet. I hate to ask, it's so improper, after all you paid for the rooms and…" She smiled suddenly and patted Nigel's hand. "I'll adjust your bill accordingly, those boys will be so grateful. I really have nowhere else to put them."

"We're happy to do it," Sydney smiled as Nigel stepped around Janice to return to his room.

Janice beamed at her. "You're both so generous. How long have you two been…friends?"

"We're actually work colleagues. I'm a professor of Ancient Studies and Nigel is my assistant. We've been working together for about three years now." She grinned. "But it feels like we've been friends forever."

"It's so nice to have that special kind of connection with someone," Janice agreed. "And so rare to find now a days, especially between a man and a woman." She became misty-eyed. "My Earl, God rest his soul, was also my best friend. We were together forty-seven years. I still miss him."

Sydney nodded, sympathetically as Nigel returned with his bags and set them just inside the door. Janice smiled at him and grabbed his arm.

"You dear boy, come with me and I'll get you both some supper."

Nigel nodded and followed her out.

Sydney moved Nigel's bags out of the way, and then closed the balcony doors to shut out the storm. God, it rained a lot here. Maybe they could go somewhere warm and sunny for the rest of their holiday; maybe home to Hawaii. She could use some time to work on her tan. She immediately pictured Nigel lying beside her on the beach in tight black bathing trunks and it brought back some of the words from _that_ night.

_**You think of me…like that?**_

_**You're incredibly beautiful, Syd.**_

_**You think about…about kissing me?**_

_**Amongst other things.**_

She smoothed her hand over her robe and wondered for the hundredth time if Nigel had been sincere. She suddenly realized that she should get dressed before he returned.

_**I mean it's just us, you and me. We're friends so…so we accept it and move on, right?**_

She shrugged. That was true enough, Nigel rarely seemed affected by what she was wearing or not wearing and he had seen her in her robe and much less plenty of times. It was only when she was naked that he became truly flustered. She smiled as she remembered his reaction when he'd entered the bathroom earlier. Sometimes he was just so hilarious. She pulled on a pair of shorts and a tank top and tied her robe over it.

_**We get happily toasted when there are no relics to chase, no phone calls to take and no interruptions.**_

_**And then what?**_

_**Then… we'll see what happens.**_

She suddenly felt anxious about their impending dinner. Nigel had won the bet and fair was fair, but was he expecting something more? In all honesty she had been hoping this vacation would help her decide if she did want to take that next step with Nigel, but was she ready for it? She could hold her liquor much better than he could, so nothing would happen that she didn't want to happen. She would still be in control.

She decided to change into the emerald green nightgown she'd purchased a few days before, just in case anything _did_ happen it was a little more appealing than the shorts, ran a brush through her hair and spritzed on a dash of her favorite perfume. She checked her reflection in the mirror, added just a touch of strawberry lip-gloss and nodded, satisfied. She moved to the bed, tossed the extra pillows in the corner and turned down the heavy comforter, smoothing out any wrinkles.

_**I wouldn't trade our relationship, or your trust in me for anything. I'd never do anything to ruin it.**_

She stopped suddenly, as Nigel's words bounced around inside her head. He would see the bed and automatically think she had set out to seduce him! What if she was wrong? What if he didn't want her that way? Did he really mean to sacrifice any other kind of relationship to remain her friend? She quickly pulled the comforter back on and frantically replaced the pillows, the last one going wide and falling to the other side as the door opened.

Sydney dove across the bed and plucked the pillow from the floor just as Nigel entered with their food.

He paused and stared at her spread across the bed as she attempted to restore her robe around her. "What are you doing?"

Sydney flicked the hair out of eyes, trying to appear casual "Nothing. Where's the champagne?" Her voice was a little too cheerful and still held a touch of breathless from her earlier panic.

He hesitated before answering, wondering if he had woken her from a nap. "Janice doesn't have any," he replied as he set their meal on the small table in the sitting area.

"What about wine, beer?"

"No." He waved at her plate as he sat down in one of the chairs and started to eat. It disturbed him for some reason that they would be sharing a bed for the second time during their stay in England. It never used to bother him. "Come on, before it gets cold.

Sydney felt oddly disappointed as she slid off the bed and settled in the other chair. She picked up her plate and the utensils that Nigel offered her and silently began to eat. "Isn't there a liquor store around here then?"

Nigel shook his head and continued to eat. Sydney ate a few potatoes and a bit of the roast, it was delicious but she suddenly wasn't very hungry.

"So, I was thinking, we could head to Hawaii."

"Sorry?"

"Well, it does nothing but rain here and I thought we could finish our holiday in Hawaii, at least the weather will be better."

"Whatever you like, Syd."

Sydney rolled her eyes and attacked the meat on her plate, frustrated. "What do you want to do, Nigel?"

"I want to finish my dinner."

Sydney glared at him just as there was a timid knock on the door. They both started to rise but Sydney was up first so she answered the door. Janice stood on the other side, smiling brightly and holding two six packs of beer. "Compliments of Gregory and Lisa," she reported gleefully.

"Pardon me?" Sydney asked confused.

"The two backpackers Nigel gave up his room for," Janice explained, frowning. "He mentioned that you wanted something to celebrate with and I didn't have anything. Gregory had these and offered them when he heard I was looking for something for you." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, it's not champagne…"

Sydney grinned and accepted the cases and the two large glasses Janice offered. Nigel would be thrilled, he wasn't a big champagne drinker anyway and she knew he liked English beer. Besides it would be more like friends at the pub, like he had wanted. "Oh no, Janice! These will do great! Please thank them for us."

Janice smiled, relieved. "Well you were very kind to give up your room." She handed Sydney some candles. "Just in case the power goes, it happens a lot out here. Enjoy your evening, my lovelies."

Sydney closed the door and returned to the sitting area, setting the items on the table. "Look what we got, compliments of our friends next door."

Nigel's face lit up momentarily, but then he just nodded and continued eating, unusually quiet.

Sydney pulled one of the bottles from the pack and twisted it open. "Nigel?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"Sure, why?"

"You're awfully quiet." She handed him the bottle, retrieved a second for herself and poured it into a glass, before settling back in her chair to finish her food.

Nigel set his beer back on the table next to his empty plate and sat back. "Just tired I guess."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Are your jeans too tight and cutting off circulation to your mouth?"

Nigel smirked but continued to eat.

Sydney was satisfied to at least get almost a smile out of him and went to work on her own food. She finally set her empty plate atop Nigel's and sipped her drink, curling her legs up in the chair. "Aren't you going to drink?"

Nigel reached forward, took a sip of his beer, and then set it back on the table.

"Nigel."

He sighed as he retrieved the bottle again and gulped half of it down. He returned it to the table again.

"What's wrong with you?" Sydney demanded.

"Nothing, I'm just tired, Syd. I'm sorry."

"What the hell are you apologizing for?"

Nigel flinched at her tone. "Because you're barking at me like I've done something wrong!" he snapped back.

Sydney's mouth snapped shut abruptly and she stared at him. She didn't mean to bark at him. "This was your idea, Nigel," she reminded. "You said this was what you wanted if you won the bet and you won."

Nigel rose suddenly and moved over to the window, pushing the curtains aside to stare out at the rain. Thunder and lightning were rampant now and the rain was coming down in sheets. For a long moment he didn't speak and then when he did his voice was so soft that Sydney had trouble hearing him. She stood and moved to stand beside him.

"What was that?"

Nigel glanced at her and then back out the window. "I don't care about the stupid bet, Syd," he explained, taking a sudden interest in the curtains and fingering the fabric thoughtfully rather than look at her. "You almost died today and the last thing I'm thinking about is winning a stupid bet."

Sydney's gaze softened and her annoyance filtered away replaced with a warmer feeling. They had both experienced a close call when they were being cornered by a couple of heavies that Sydney had a much harder time than usual dispensing. One brute in particular had managed to get the upper hand and had fired his weapon at Sydney, it had jammed, luckily and Sydney disarmed him and took him down, with a little help from Nigel.

They had just started to get away when one of the other brutes grabbed the same gun and that time it did fire, taking out a piece of the wall just above Nigel's head as he and Sydney rounded a corner and took off. Nigel had been sullen and quiet on the trip home, but Sydney hadn't realized that he had still been thinking about the misfire. They had been in worse situations, but for some reason this one had shaken him.

"Nigel, we're both fine."

"I know."

"And things like that happen, but we've faced worse, right?"

Nigel nodded but remained sullen.

Sydney retrieved their drinks and walked back to hand him his bottle. She stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on. We did well today and we deserve to celebrate." She held her glass up to him in a toast and smiled. "I want to get pissed with my best mate, how about you?"

Nigel grinned shyly and touched his bottle to the glass. "Cheers, Syd."

Sydney laughed when Nigel tossed his cards down in disgust at Sydney's royal flush.

"Bloody hell!"

"Nigel!"

Nigel scowled. "Sorry, Syd." He shook his head and reached for his beer, unsure how many he'd had at this point but not caring either, they were well through the first six-pack and into the second. He had quite the good buzz on and was having fun with Sydney. No bad guys, no relics, no papers to grade, just as was promised. "You're too good for me." If they had been playing for money he'd have lost a month's pay at this point.

Sydney grinned and scooped up the small pot of M & M's they were using as ante and added them to her growing pile. She offered him one. "It's okay; I'll share my winnings, Nige."

Nigel accepted the offering with a sly grin, although he had eaten through most of his own winnings already and was getting full on the sweet chocolate. Sydney was apparently a giggler when she was drunk and in a much more jovial position than usual; Nigel was enjoying the hell out of it.

The power had gone out about an hour ago. They had lit the candles that Janice had given them and opened the patio to let the air in so it wouldn't get too stuffy. The rain had stopped and there was just now a sweet smelling breeze coming from outside. Nigel had been right, they caught the tail end of the storm and it hadn't been near as dangerous as the weather mongrels were making out.

"Are we playing another one?" Sydney asked as she watched Nigel rise; unsteadily and almost trip over the boots he had removed earlier. "Careful!"

"I'm okay," he assured, catching hold of the bed to steady himself. He glanced around for the flashlight that he had pulled from his bag earlier. "Where the devil?" He dropped down on the floor and started to search. He could have sworn that he'd left it on the table.

"What are you looking for?" Sydney asked peering over at him, curious as he moved further into the shadows of the room and away from the soft glow of candlelight.

"My torch, I thought it was on the table." He glanced under the bed but could see only darkness. He felt around underneath it.

"You need a flashlight to find your flashlight?" Sydney giggled.

Nigel grinned and continued his search. "Oh, stop it! I know…Ahah!" He touched something cool and cylindrical over by the nightstand. He fumbled for the switch and almost blinded himself as he realized he had the wrong end pointed towards him. "How the hell did it get over here?"

"Maybe a ghost moved it there?"

Nigel ignored her. She had been trying to freak him out with talk of ghosts and things that went bump in the night since the lights went earlier. She didn't seem to realize that a ghost was small potatoes compared to some of the things he'd been through with her on their hunts. Now, he'd wanted his light for a reason, what was it? Oh right! He stood and found his way to the bathroom.

Sydney scowled. "Where are you going?"

"I'll be back."

She leaned back against the sofa and gathered their cards, shuffled for a minute or two then set them aside, also tired of the game. She braced herself on the small table they were playing across and rose to stretch her legs. Tonight had been fun and despite her earlier tiredness she was now wide-awake. She and Nigel should have done this long ago, but whenever she had seen him intoxicated before it was at an inopportune time and all she could think of was the hunt. She would get irritated with him. Now, with nothing to worry about other than how drunk either of them would be before they went to bed, she found him wonderfully amusing and charming.

She flopped lazily across the bed just as Nigel returned to the room. "Everything come out okay?" she teased.

"Near as I can tell," he replied. He almost stumbled when she reached up to grab his hand as he passed and haul him down beside her.

"What ya wanna do now?" she asked, smiling.

"I want the room to stop spinning."

Sydney giggled and rose to lean over him. She started to move her hand in circles over his face. "Are you getting dizzy?"

Nigel grinned and caught her hand. "You'll know when I throw up on you," he warned.

She grinned. "Poor Nigey. Can't hold your liquor?"

Nigel suddenly knocked her arms out from under her and she flopped face-first into the mattress. "Oh shut up!"

Sydney bounced back up, outraged and grabbed one of the pillows, preparing to smack him with it, but he quickly rolled off the bed, out of her range, and held up his hands in protest.

"No hitting!" he squealed from the floor. "I get enough of that when we're working!"

She tossed the pillow aside and dove for him. She landed on his back and tried to ride him like a horse. "Yah, boy!"

He laughed and bucked her off, quickly crawling back to the table to grab his beer. "Sydney Fox, you are insane."

She crawled over and joined him. "You asked for it, remember?"

He grinned. "So I did." He toasted her. "Well done."

Sydney crawled up onto the small settee Nigel was resting against his back against, seemed neither of them were doing very well staying vertical at the moment. She stretched her legs out and sighed. "Know what our problem is, Nige?"

Nigel was busy peeling the label off his beer bottle. "What's that?"

"We need to get laid."

"I wouldn't think you'd have a problem with that, Syd."

She turned on her side to look at him, but she could only see the back of his head. She gently pulled on his hair and his head dipped back toward her so that he was looking up at her. "Why?" she demanded.

"What?"

"Why do you think that? I don't have a dozen men waiting for my call, you know?" She released his hair and reached past him for her beer on the table, but found it empty. Nigel offered her some of his, and then she relaxed against the cushions again. "Did you know…Did you know that I haven't had sex in six months?"

Nigel's eyes widened and he turned sideways to look at her. "Really?"

She nodded gravely. "And do you know why?"

He leaned closer, intrigued. "Why?"

"Men are pigs."

He nodded solemnly and faced forward again, and continued picking at the beer label. "They are, yes."

"But you're not."

"No?"

"No."

"Why are men pigs, Syd?"

Sydney untied her robe and pulled it apart, she was getting hot. "They never listen; they're selfish, conceited, and rotten to the core!"

He raised his bottle again. "Here, here!" He paused and giggled. "Wait, I think I just insulted myself."

Sydney chuckled and lazily reached up to pat his head. "No, you're not included, Nige."

"Oh good." He paused again then set his beer down on the table and turned to look at her. "Why not, Syd?"

Sydney had turned to face him and was suddenly lost in his beautiful, slightly alcohol-glazed eyes. "Huh?"

He chuckled. "Who can't hold their liquor?"

Sydney continued to stare at him.

"Why aren't I included? I am a man, after all."

Sydney forced her brain to think of something other than how incredible his pale skin looked in the candlelight and how his eyes sparkled with flecks of gold. "You're a good guy, Nige." She smiled and lightly punched his shoulder. "A real Prince in fact."

"Oh goody," Nigel smirked. "Not the amphibian kind I hope?"

Sydney giggled and then said, "Know what we need?"

"What?"

"A man?"

"Both of us?"

"Well, one of us anyway."

"Right," Nigel agreed pursing his lips. He grabbed his knapsack from the other side of the table and pulled out a small notebook and a pen. "Right, so…how do we find him, then?"

"What do we look for you mean?"

"Exactly. Maybe if we know what you need in a man we can find you one, Syd."

"Now that's a tall order to fill."

"Not if we think about it," he insisted. "If we break it down into pieces rather than just trying to figure out everything at once, we'll have a trail to follow; just like in Relic Hunting. Every problem has an infinite number of solutions; we just need to find the one that will be most beneficial to you."

Sydney thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose finding a man would be the first step."

"Oh, there's plenty of them out there, but they're all pigs, remember?"

She sighed and looked heavenward. "There has to be one non-oinker in the bunch, somewhere!"

Nigel turned back around again. "You know what your problem is, Syd? You're attracted to all the wrong types."

"Hey!"

"No, no…now listen." He leaned forward. "I've seen some of the blokes you've gone with and they're definitely pork-infested."

Sydney laughed and turned towards him interested, bracing her head on her hand. "Oh really?"

"Well, let's take just a few. There was Dallas, a man who would sell his mother's body to achieve fame and fortune. Francois who was ready to kill you to get the relic he was after."

"They're both hunters though; it's the way we are…"

"No. No, Syd. I have never seen you willingly hurt or humiliate someone just to get to a relic first." Except for him of course, but that didn't count. Sydney didn't do that deliberately. "They were willing to use and abuse you for the sake of their own greed."

Sydney sighed, knowing he was right. "Okay, so no more relic hunters."

Nigel noted the suggestion in his book. "Good. Now then, there was Derek Lloyd."

"I never dated him!"

Nigel turned just enough to look at her.

Sydney flushed and crossed her arms over her chest. "No more spies either!" she huffed.

"And then there's…"

Sydney leaned over and slapped her hand over the page. "Are we going to go through all the men I've dated?"

"God no!" Nigel retorted, quickly. "We don't have that much time."

"Nigel!" She pulled on his hair.

"Ow! What?"

Sydney glared at him. She had never seen him so brazen. Alcohol certainly loosened his tongue.

"Okay, perhaps we don't need the entire list. You're right; we should concentrate on what you should have instead of what you have had." If there was anything left that she hadn't had, that is.

"Good," Sydney settled back against the cushions and tossed her arm over her head. This was kind of fun, like having a girl's night but with Nigel. "So, what I should be looking for in a man?"

"Yes. What do you, Sydney Fox, want in a man?" Nigel readied his pen for her response.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm your assistant. I'm taking notes. So…what are we looking for?"

"Kindness."

Nigel jotted it down. "That's good. What else?"

Sydney closed her eyes, thoughtfully. "He has to be good looking."

"What if he isn't?"

"Huh?"

"What if you find the perfect match who meets all your criteria but he isn't some Greek Adonis? What if he's just a normal, average bloke who happens to be perfect for you?"

"He doesn't have to be a God, Nigel," Sydney denied. "But there has to be some chemistry."

"You don't think you can find chemistry with average looking fellows?"

"Well, sure. I mean, I'm not saying that he has to be movie star beautiful, but I have to be attracted to him at least."

"Syd, I've seen the men you're attracted to and normal blokes haven't got a prayer against them. They all look like those scoundrels on Claudia's romance novels, big, hairy, muscled bound pirates with loving in their eyes and the devil in their smiles."

Sydney adjusted her position and started playing with his hair. "You sound jealous, Nigel."

"Don't be absurd," he insisted waving her fingers away from his neck. "They're dream men, Syd. They aren't real and they're loyalty is as fabricated as their appearance."

She moved a little closer and rested her chin on his shoulder. "So…I need someone who's loyal?"

"Certainly. They have to put you first, Syd. Before any relic, or fame, or fortune or any of that other rot."

Sydney pursed her lips thoughtfully and then sat back against the cushions again. "Okay, so loyalty."

He noted the word in the book.

"What else do you think I need, Nige?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Well, I'm obviously choosing the wrong kind of men so help me choose a right kind. What do you think I need in a man?"

Nigel chewed on the tip of his pen thoughtfully, as always putting his all into solving a puzzle given to him. "Well…Honesty would be good, Syd. They have to be honest with you and about themselves."

"Yes, honesty is important. I've been burned to many times by liars and cheats."

"And they should be mature and confident enough in themselves that you can't intimidate them."

"Nigel!"

"Well, it's true, Syd. I mean, don't you find that people, men especially are intimidated by you?"

Sydney scowled. Certainly she had but she never thought Nigel noticed. "Well…yeah."

"And the reason for that is they aren't secure enough in themselves to let you be the woman you are."

"The woman I am?"

"Yes, you know, strong, intelligent and resourceful. Some men have a problem with that, Syd."

Sydney smiled affectionately as she slid down beside him. "But you don't, do you Nigel?"

Nigel glanced at her, startled. "What? Well, no, but then I know you much better than most people do, I should think. We've been through a lot, Syd. You intimidated the hell out of me at first, though."

"Really, you never showed it."

"Didn't I?" Nigel chuckled. "Probably afraid to."

"But you didn't mind working for a woman, letting me take the lead in our hunts and make all the decisions?"

"Of course not! You were my employer and had become my friend in short order as well." He shrugged. "Besides, I was smart enough to accept that you knew what you were doing and I did not. I'd have to be some kind of idiot to try and prove otherwise; it would have just gotten us hurt or killed."

Sydney regarded him quietly. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and rested her head next to his. "So, what else do you think my Prince should have, Nige?"

Nigel smiled and explained.


End file.
